


you taste like birthday, you look like new year

by weatheredlaw



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Birthday Party, F/M, M/M, Multi, Shmoop, Threesome - F/M/M, lots of shmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-08
Updated: 2012-06-08
Packaged: 2017-11-07 06:52:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/428164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weatheredlaw/pseuds/weatheredlaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And they each know, in this moment, what it means to be loved unconditionally.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you taste like birthday, you look like new year

**Author's Note:**

> written for a prompt at [avengerkink](http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/6021.html?thread=8542597#t8542597). it probably didn't ask for this ot3, but i couldn't help myself.

_but you're like a party somebody threw me  
you taste like birthday, you look like new years  
you're like a big parade through town  
you leave such a mess, but you're so fun_

 

 

Tony comes across Bruce's birthday on accident, when he's snooping around and looking for other things that he thinks are more important, but quickly realizes _aren't_. It's four months away and it's too soon to _plan_ something -- and who is he kidding, Tony doesn't plan shit, none of this ready, fire, aim business someone once told him -- but Tony files it away and sits on it, lets it mull over. Because it's sort of like wine and it's sort of not and he's working on the metaphor, okay? He's really trying. 

He has JARVIS remind him a couple weeks before, as long as Bruce isn't around.

"I'm not sure a surprise party for a man with such drastic... _mood swings_ is wise, sir."

"One, keep your sassy opinions to yourself. And two, remind me, okay? I don't want to forget. I've been good about Pep's, I have to be good about his, too. That's what you do, you know. When you're...established. And stuff. Like we are." 

"You are referring to your open and polyamorous relationship--"

"JARVIS."

"Shall I bring up the stock exchange, sir?"

"Anything you want, buddy."

 

 

Pepper is torn between doing something for Bruce and not scaring the shit out of a man who measures his pulse when _he's in the shower._ It's very distracting. She's asked him to stop, like, a hundred times. 

But Pepper loves Tony, and she loves Bruce and she wants to do something for them both and she thinks this could be it. Because Tony is _trying_ and it's endearing and sort of fun to watch him pour himself into little things like this. He exhausted himself over her birthday last year, and the entire week after he kept insisting it was Tuesday, again and again, until she forced him to sleep more than five hours. So in the end, it'll probably be more work for her than anyone else -- but it'll be worth it, if it's for her boys. 

Sometimes she wonders how it came to that. She knows Bruce only said yes because he was tired of running, and she could see it in his eyes when Tony propositioned him, and she unbuttoned his shirt and put her hand over his stuttering heart and promised him, _promised him_ with every bit of strength she had, that they would keep him safe. And she watched him melt into them both and let his guard down for the first time in _years._ And Pepper knows in theory that she should be terrified of Bruce. There's a monster living in the spaces between his muscles and his bones, but Pepper's seen him change and it makes her stomach drop and her heart crawl into her throat -- but it's almost beautiful, the way he can control it. 

She's jealous, in her own way.

Because she and Tony have clawed their way along the trembling line of chaos for years now and watching Bruce, chaos personified, bleeding control and peace -- it's like melon in the summer and showering in the rain. It's like holding books to your chest and knowing their yours, every word gets to be yours and that is _control_ like Pepper's never known, in her years with Tony. 

And Tony, so starved for peace, with war thrumming along his sides and under his skin -- he soaks up Bruce like the sun, always touching and tasting whenever he can. He's a distraction and he's an enabler. He promises Pepper they'll be done by eleven and then it's two AM and it's just one more thing that needs to be done, one more idea, one more question to answer. And Pepper isn't below dragging them by their ears and throwing them to bed. She's tasered men for less.

"Does Bruce like vanilla cake? He probably likes vanilla cake. He seems like a vanilla cake kind of guy." Tony's been pretending to read the papers Pepper asked him to sign for fifteen minutes. He curls a hand around her ankle. "Thoughts?"

"Bruce likes chocolate cake. I asked him a while back for that banquet we had for Steve's thing in Brooklyn. Remember?" Tony shrugs. "He likes chocolate cake. Get him a chocolate cake."

Tony crawls toward her from the bottom of the bed. "It'd be in bad taste to frost it green, wouldn't it?" he murmurs into her neck. Pepper drops her papers, pressing him against her. 

"Yes, Tony. It would."

"Pop quiz. You passed. Let's make out."

 

 

When Tony was seven, everyone forgot his birthday.

It was a busy year for the company, and his mother had promised him they'd do something nice, but she was never very good at following through and Tony wasn't allowed to ask her a lot of questions. Howard spent the day at the office and Maria spent the day in bed with a migraine.

So Tony went out, with some change he'd stolen from his mother's purse, and he bought himself an ice cream and went to the beach to watch the sunset. 

His nanny sent him to bed without dinner as punishment, but his fingers were still sticky with bubblegum ice cream and there was sand in his hair. 

 

 

Tony flies to LA for a night to pick up some things from the house. There's liquor there he wants to bring back and definitely a part for his suit he's certain he made in a fit of clarity and good fortune. He sends Pepper a text that says _take care of him and behave_ , but she doesn't get it because she's having to most mind-blowing shower sex of her life and texts from Tony are at the bottom of the List of Shit she's thinking about right now. Bruce lifts her into a corner and fucks into her, slow and wet and groaning. Pepper claws at the walls of the shower, drags her nails over his back and shouts until she comes. Bruce pulls out and Peppers slowly jerks him off until he comes against her stomach, trembling and soaked. 

"Let's try again," she murmurs, crawling into his lap after he's sunk to the shower floor. "Except next time you can both fuck me."

"You're a monster," he says, groaning as she curls her hand around his dick. "I can't do it again, oh God." Pepper laughs, catching the water dripping off his nose with her tongue. She turns off the shower and grabs a towel off the rack. 

"Come to bed with me and I'll tell you all about the dream I had last night."

"Spare me the details and I'll teach you the names of my favorite stars."

 

 

Thor admires the spread of Guatemalan take out that Clint and Natasha brought over, drinking from his very own, very large, bottle of red wine. "This is much like private celebrations in Asgard. But with poorer lighting," he notes. Pepper nods listlessly and makes notes about the delivery service on her phone and answers an e-mail from Fury that is, as usual, probing, threatening and, surprisingly, full of unnecessary chat lingo.

"This is a good party." Steve sidles up next to her, sipping on a can of Coke. Pepper swallows the desire to hum "America the Beautiful" and just nods instead. "Tony said he's, uh, trying to get better at birthdays? I don't--"

"Tony forgets his own birthday if you don't remind him, usually because he's already celebrated it a few days too early."

"Are you talking about me?" Tony appears over her shoulder, nesting his chin against her neck. "I think you're talking about me."

"Your ego is showing."

"I _am_ my ego, Miss Potts. Captain! You made it."

"Great party, Tony. This is really nice."

"I'll throw you one, too, I promise. Your birthday's July 4th, right?" Steve flushes and nods and downs his soda. "I will give you the world's greatest fireworks display. That is a promise." Somewhere in the hall, the elevator slides open. "Take a rain check on the party talk, Cap. Places! Miss Potts would like to remind you all that your shouts of surprise should be _genuine_ but not _shocking._ " Pepper drags Tony by the elbow behind the kitchen counter. " _Ow._ " 

"Shh."

Bruce opens the door, humming Simon and Garfunkle as he walks and Pepper realizes, all too late, they left the Norse God in the living room.

"Uh. Hey. Thor." 

"Ah! He returns! You may all--"

"Surprise!" In perfect Avenger form, they spring from their hiding places, their shouts a bit too much on the shocking side, for Pepper's taste, but it doesn't send Bruce over the edge or even seem to do anything at all. Except make him smile. It definitely does that. 

 

 

"Thanks for this," Bruce says a while later. He's tipsy (drunk) and on his third plate of rice and beans. Pepper shrugs and jerks her head toward Tony.

"It was him, actually." Bruce raises an eyebrow. "I know, he can't use a coffee maker, but he can plan a party. Welcome to my world. What good is being a genius when you can't explain the actual function of a sock?" Bruce laughs and leans forward, planting a sloppy kiss on her neck. "But you're welcome," she says quietly. 

 

 

Later that night, after Steve and Thor take off and Natasha half-carries a drunken Clint, singing Irish drinking songs to Bruce as he leaves, Pepper toes off her shoes and passes out on the couch, listening to Tony and Bruce snipe happily at one another, debating the ethics and benefits of a self-cleaning kitchen. Somewhere between a lecture from Bruce on indentured servitude and a heartfelt argument for the lazy-gene from Tony, Pepper falls asleep. She wakes up with a blanket over her, blackout shades drawn over the windows. 

"Where are they JARVIS?"

"Just returning from the sixtieth floor lab, Miss Potts." 

"Headed to the room?"

"Indeed. Shall I make you some tea?"

"No. I'll have a beer. I really need a beer." Pepper crawls off the couch and heads to the fridge. As expected, the leftovers are poorly stored and there's rice layering the bottom shelf, but Pepper shoves past it and grabs a beer from the back. She holds it to her face, cooling down from sleep before popping the cap off against the counter and downing half of it. 

She finishes it on the way to the room, stopping just outside the door. Tony and Bruce are inside, babbling about something, probably more self-cleaning kitchen ideas and well thought-out arguments on the human condition from Bruce. She smiles, listening to their voices and the way they match each other, the warm lilt of Bruce voice against the dry sharpness of Tony's, curling together like music on her ears. 

"No one remembers my birthday," Bruce murmurs, and now Pepper has to see. She peers through the crack between the door and the frame, watching Bruce shove Tony gently onto the bed and straddle him. "Thank you, for remembering." Tony only groans into Bruce's mouth, crawling backward and letting Bruce kiss him expansively against the bed, hands curling over his wrists and laying him out. And it might be Bruce's birthday, but he goes down on Tony, undoing the button of his jeans and drawing his cock out, wrapping his lips around it and hollowing his cheeks. Pepper watches appreciatively until she hears Tony's sharp intake of breath and Bruce laughing as he lifts his head. 

She finally goes in, undoing the zipper of her dress and letting it pool onto the floor. Bruce kisses her as she crawls over the bed toward them, cupping his hand over her face and drawing her in. Tony takes the opportunity and turns Bruce over with his free hand, peeling off shirts and fumbling with buttons as he goes. 

And then he's tired. Pepper watches it hit him like a Mack truck and he just stops, dropping down and resting his forehead on Bruce's. And Bruce is tired too, lazily threading his fingers through Tony's hair and humming again to himself. He really likes Simon and Garfunkle. Pepper makes a mental note about Christmas gifts. 

"Let's go to bed," Tony announces. "Let's be naked, but let's be in bed."

"This is a good plan." Bruce sits up and struggles out of the rest of his clothes. Tony and Pepper undress each other and pull back the blankets. 

"Happy birthday, Bruce," Pepper murmurs in his ear. Tony turns down the lights and the shades and Pepper feels Bruce hum next to her. Over her hip, Bruce and Tony's fingers thread together and Tony kisses her while Bruce presses his lips between her shoulder blades.

And they each know, in this moment, what it means to be loved unconditionally. And Pepper is glad that Bruce is here and she's glad he said yes. And Tony is glad that he's so damn thoughtful. And Bruce is just glad. Just glad to be alive, glad to be free. Glad he made it to another birthday. Pretty damn sure he's going to make it to the next one.


End file.
